Former Ajax Amsterdam, FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager Louis van Gaal has been named as the new manager of The Netherlands national football team, a statement from KNVB, the football association of the country announced on its official website. The 60 year old will take over the reins of The Oranje from Bert van Marwijk, who stepped down from his role as the manager of the national team after a disappointing Euro 2012 campaign where the Dutch failed to manage a single win and were knocked out of the group stages, finishing bottom of their group.
The Netherlands arrived in Poland and Ukraine for the European Championships as one of the favorites for the title after they finished as runners up to all conquering Spain in the final of FIFA World Cup held in South Africa in 2010 and even though they were placed in the Group of Death with Portugal, Denmark and arch rivals Germany, were favorites to reach the next round along with the Germans. But they finished bottom of the group, with 5 goals conceded, 2 scored and 0 points on the board. The Netherlands were defeated by Denmark 1-0 in their opening fixture, followed by a 2-1 loss to eternal enemies Germany and another 2-1 defeat at the hands of Portugal in a match they were completely outplayed by Cristiano Ronaldo and his men.
It didn’t take long for van Marwijk to hand in his resignation, taking responsibility for the dismal performances of the team and the KNVB also didn’t waste any time in appointing his successor. Louis van Gaal returns to take over the Dutch national team for a second time after being in charge between 2000 and 2002 and according to his statement after being appointed as the manager, he is looking forward to the challenge to rebuilding the side and this was something that he had waited for a long time.
The 60 year old tactician is one of the most respected coaches in club football with plenty of trophies with the clubs he has managed in the cabinet. His last stint as manager was with the German giants Bayern Munich which he led to the Bundesliga title in 2010 and also reached the final of the UEFA Champions League that same season, being beaten 2-0 in the final by Inter Milan. He failed to achieve the success he had in his first season at Bayern and after Borussia Dortmund won the Bundesliga title in 2011, he was sacked as the manager. He was recently linked with the managerial position at Chelsea as well as the position of Sporting Director at both Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur but none of the rumors turned out to be true and he had returned to take his national team back to glory.
For a team built around superstar players, the Dutch have very little silverware to show for their class and with big egos in the team, van Gaal will have his work cut out this time.